Bob Kravitz's Dopey Report Card: Surprising result in Kansas City

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Griff Whalen runs after a catch against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half, Sunday, December 22, 2013, at Arrowhead Stadium.
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We bring you a special Sewer Rat Edition of the Dopey Report Card, in honor of Bill and Chris Polian, who both attended Sunday's Colts-Chiefs game in Kansas City. Bill was there for the radio broadcast and Chris, sitting three seats down for me, was scouting for the Jaguars. For those who wondered, no, we did not make dinner reservations for barbecue at Gate's or Jack's Stack, which was very disappointing. As for the running game, it's simple: I want to see more Donald Brown and less Trent Richardson. I don't care if they gave up five first-rounders for the latter, Brown is the superior runner and playmaker. He had 79 yards on 10 carries and two more catches for 31 yards, including a 33-yard TD reception. I've never before been a Brown fan, thinking he was a disappointing pick in the first round, but he has emerged as Indy's preeminent game-breaker along with T.Y. Hilton.

RUN DEFENSE

GRADE: B-minus

Jamaal Charles got his yards; you knew that was going to happen. But he didn't kill the Colts, except on that early 31-yard touchdown run. By and large the Colts kept Charles, the Chiefs' one and only game-changer, under strict control. He's most dangerous in passing situations, and only had five receptions for 38 yards. The Colts safeties, specifically Antoine Bethea, had a marvelous game, thumping Charles by spinning up and creating an eight-man box. And while we're at it, just give linebacker Jerrell Freeman the defensive player of the week award now. He had two interceptions, a forced fumble, three passes defensed and generally made a nuisance of himself.

A lot of times, Andrew Luck praises his offensive line even when it isn't warranted. It's a smart, praiseworthy thing to do, especially since it's their job to keep him from getting killed. But his compliments Sunday did not ring hollow. The O-line was spectacularly good, even though it was the fifth different starting offensive line combination in five weeks, and the seventh this year. Luck was sacked just once, and that was on an overturned play when the officials ruled his knee was down before he threw the ball away. As for Luck, well, he's just so understatedly good, we take him for granted. He makes plays with his arm, and his legs, and we just shrug and say, "Yep, that's just Andrew being Andrew." Terrific game from Griff Whalen, whose yards after catch were off the charts.

PASS DEFENSE

GRADE: A

This is the secondary we remember from the first half of the season. It looks to me like they've returned to doing what they did earlier this year, playing the cornerbacks up in press coverage, attaching themselves to receivers all over the field. It was good to see Greg Toler back, but Josh Gordy played exceedingly well. Same with Vontae Davis, who's looked like the early-season Vontae Davis these past two weeks. When Davis has to sit back, he gets flummoxed, but tell him to make a receiver disappear in a cloud of tough, man-to-man coverage, and he's capable of being special. The Colts also got a pass rush from someone other than Robert Mathis — Cory Redding (1), Freeman (1), Bjoern Werner (1), Ricardo Mathews (.5) and Fili Moala (.5). Alex Smith had a 41.3 quarterback rating. That says it all.

SPECIAL TEAMS

GRADE: C

If there was a wart in this performance, it was special teams. Adam Vinatieri yanked a 34-yard field goal wide left, his first miss of the season from fewer than 40 yards. The kick coverage was less than average. Knile Davis returned three for a 31.3-yard average and Quintin Demps had a 30-yarder. If these teams meet again in two weeks — and that's the likelihood, although the Colts can still finish anywhere from the second to fourth seed — I wouldn't kick the ball to either of those guys, or to punt returner Dexter McCluster. Take those guys out of the game altogether. Pat McAfee had a tackle; after the game, he told me a Chiefs player told him the coaches showed the team film of McAfee's greatest hits this season. Now that's respect.

Loved going for it on fourth-and-1 at the Kansas City 49-yard line while leading 10-7. Hated the timeout before Kansas City had a third-and-17 with 39 seconds left in the first half and the ball at the Indy 48. What's the point in a timeout? Even if you stop them, the best you're going to do is get the ball at the 20 with about 20 seconds left. Make the Chiefs use their third timeout there. Looking at the bigger picture, though, Chuck Pagano and this staff have done a terrific job keeping this thing moving forward despite losing five starters on the offense and having a patchwork offensive line. Everybody fell in love with Bruce Arians last year, but Pagano, left to his own devices this year, has shown he can lead a team into the playoffs.

INTANGIBLES

GRADE: A

Didn't see this one coming. No, sir. No, m'am. Just like in San Francisco, I thought the Colts would get some good food (barbecue here) but little else that was terribly satisfying. Now they're going to be an 11-win team, one win better than I expected, and they're going to overachieve in the process. How many other teams could have weathered the loss of five offensive starters? This group had all the excuses it ever would have needed to take a fall, but has kept pushing, kept playing. It's going to be an interesting post-season.